Posted on 02/28/2014 4:58:25 AM PST by dennisw
Ronald Reese, 62, of Lakeland, Florida died February 16 from complications from a brown recluse spider bite Reese was bitten on this neck in August and numerous related illnesses and hospital stays followed
A 62-year-old Florida man's February 16 death is being blamed on a brown recluse spider bite, a fatality so rare that statistics aren't even kept for them. Ronald Reese was bitten in the neck by the spider, which are usually about the size of a U.S. quarter, all the way back in August while clearing out an old house. What followed were six agonizing months of related illnesses as the Lakeland man clung to life with an abscess eating away toward his spine until he finally let go last week.
Reese managed to make it home that day in August after he was bitten, but by the following day his father told TheLedger.com that his son could barely get out of bed. Days after that, a paralyzed Reese collapsed. The Polk County Medical Examiner deemed his death the result of complications from a spider bite, but between his collapse and his eventual death, Reese suffered terribly.
Reese's 88-year-old father William Reese said his son went through numerous procedures and was in and out of the hospital, but nothing seemed to work.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
In the PacNW the brown recluse is really the only spider you have to worry about. We have the hobo too, but the BR is the real baddy, and hangs out in wood piles.
We teach Scouts how to gather wood from piles - knocking them against the ground before gathering them up in their arms.
It’s the necrotizing that really does it. I had an Asst. Scoutmaster get bit on the posterior while working as a plumber. Out for three weeks. Doofus wouldn’t get treatment after begging him to do so.
It’s true, they do a sort of Mohr’s surgery to make sure the last tissue cut is free of the bad bacteria.
I have a friend who successfully used this on himself to treat a brown recluse bite and had absolutely no ill effects. As he told me it's half a second of pain (the shock) to avoid months of agony.
More info here: Electric Shock Treatment For Venomous Insect Bites
My son got bit on the back. Drained and antibiotics. Lots of them round here!
I would NEVER have “dismissed” a bite from a spider “the size of a U.S. Quarter.” I would have been hysterical, and at the ER in minutes.
That is very interesting, having snuffed a handful of these critters here in FL, I’m going to file this one away. Thanks!
PS - I did a very quick search and see that others have used homemade leads run off of a stun gun to accomplish the same thing. Looks like a nice add to the casual internet research list.
Cheers
Also stumbled upon this:
The biological basis for the mechanism behind the shock is:
The current will influence the hydrogen bonds of the enzymes, destroying their secondary and tertiary structure.
The high voltage, low amperage current applied will reduce metal ions and zinc, copper, magnesium, iron, or calcium ions, which are firmly bound to some venom enzymes and are mandatory cofactors for these enzymes.
The electric particles interfere with the membrane as well as the positive charged polypeptides, decreasing their cytotoxic properties.
Taken together the protective high-voltage treatment for venomous bites is at least in part due to action of the electrical current on the venom itself.
Surgery prior to this type of treatment is not the answer since the venom has not been neutralized and the wound will break down again within a few weeks or months. This is well documented.
Rest in peace.
Maybe he has been bit but is such a tough son of a gun that it never bothered him.
I use sticky traps that fold into a tent to catch spiders. You can buy them on Ebay for cheap. I put them along the wall.
You might try using those.
Dreadful. RIP.
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